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Calipari to Kentucky fans: Give the players some ‘space’

If Kentucky fans want an NCAA championship, UK coach John Calipari wants one thing from them: space.

College basketball’s most frenzied fan base loves its Wildcats. A lot. But to properly prepare for Connecticut on Saturday and potentially the national title game on Monday, Calipari hopes his fans can allow guys like Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and Josh Harrellson a chance to breath, focus and enjoy the Final Four when the team arrives in Houston on Wednesday evening.

That means the autographs, photos, kissing of babies can all wait until after. From his web site, CoachCal.com

“If we take care of our business, there will be plenty of time to get autographs and personal photos beginning next Tuesday,” Coach Cal said. “We have the greatest fans in America and we want to reward them with our players’ undivided attention, focus and peak physical condition.”

“You can scream at them, cheer for them in the open practice and take pictures from afar -- but in order to make sure they -- and our staff -- doesn’t get worn down by thousands and thousands of requests at the hotel and in public, I’m just asking that you’ll give us all our space while we’re in Houston,” Coach Cal said. “I mean no disrespect at all and I know you all understand that we take pride in being The Commonwealth’s Team. But this is a business trip for these young men and our program. Let’s take care of business first and then we can have some fun later.”


The odds of this happening? Zero. No fan base would do this. But it never hurts to ask.

(Thanks to Diamond Leung).

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.